It is well known to mount a conventional water bottle on the frame of a bicycle which may be removed at the rider's discretion so that the water or other liquid within the container may be consumed. Since a conventional water bottle must be removed and held in one's hand during use, steering and balancing of the bicycle becomes more difficult. Furthermore, the act of drinking from a conventional bottle requires that the rider, to some degree at least, raise his body from the most efficient riding position.
A number of arrangements have been devised which enable a rider to drink or otherwise utilize the liquid contents of a container without removing the container from the bike frame or other structural element of the bike to which it is attached.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,815,635, issued Mar. 28, 1989, discloses a water supply apparatus for use by a bicyclist employing a diaphragm-type pump located at the end of a piece of tubing, the other end of which is connected to a water bottle. The pump is operated by a lever located on the handlebars. The tubing provides a spray of liquid directed at the bicyclist but does not extend to the mouth of the bicyclist. Furthermore, the arrangement shown in this patent would appear to require a substantial amount of pumping to pump the water from the water bottle to reach the nozzle each time a drink is desired. Also, an empty water bottle cannot readily be exchanged for a full water bottle.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,911,339, issued Mar. 27, 1990, discloses a bicycle water pump in which a special water bottle has attached to its bottom portion a hand-operated bellows pump for pressurizing the inside of a water bottle. Pressure is maintained in the bottle by pumping the bellows. This takes the biker's attention away from the road and promotes instability. The water bottle employed utilizes special fittings at both ends, and the system is not easily removed from the bicycle.
U.S. Pat No. 4,095,812, issued Jun. 20, 1978, discloses a water bottle attached to a bicycle frame which has a long tube connected thereto, the distal end of the tube reaching to the mouth of the bicyclist. A reel is employed to store excess tubing. With this approach, the bicyclist must suck the water out of the bottle through a very long tube, obviously requiring substantial effort to do so. The force of gravity can cause the water or other liquid to revert back through the tube into the container interior so that a rider wishing to drink must again suck the liquid through the entire length of the tube.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,629,098, issued Dec. 16, 1986, discloses a portable liquid dispenser which utilizes a bulb which must be squeezed to pressurize the water bottle of the system. The bulb is obviously subject to wear and tear, and the fact that the bottle must remain under continuous compression means that the bulb, due to the likelihood of system leaks, must be worked with regularity to ensure proper operation. The apparatus disclosed in this patent would appear to have the deficiencies of all bicycle water delivery systems which require the interior of the supply container to remain under continuous pressure; that is, air or water leaks anywhere in the system due to seal failure or the like will render the dispenser inoperative.
Other representative patents disclosing liquid dispensing systems for use by bicyclists and others are as follows: U.S. Pat. No. 4,739,905, issued Apr. 26, 1988, U.S. Pat. No. 4,441,638, issued Apr. 10, 1984, U.S. Pat. No. 4,274,566, issued Jun. 23, 1981, U.S. Pat. No. 4,420,097, issued Dec. 13, 1983, U.S. Pat. No. 4,544,087, issued Oct. 1, 1985, U.S. Pat. No. 4,852,781, issued Aug. 1, 1989, U.S. Pat. No. 4,886,176, issued Dec. 12, 1989, U.S. Pat. No. 4,807,813, issued Feb. 28, 1989, U.S. Pat. No. 5,062,591, issued Nov. 5, 1991, U.S. Pat. No. 2,915,222, issued Dec. 1, 1959, U.S. Pat. No. 3,677,446, issued Jul. 18, 1972, U.S. Pat. No. 3,992,706, issued Nov. 16, 1976, U.S. Pat. No. 4,159,790, issued Jul. 3, 1979, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,284,209, issued Aug. 18, 1981.
In addition, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,386,721, issued Jun. 7, 1983 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,830,240, issued May 16, 1989, disclose frames or fixtures which may be utilized to affix water bottles or containers to frames of bicycles.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,340,157, issued Jul. 20, 1982 discloses a self-sealing closure dispenser for plastic stain bottles. U.S. Pat. No. 4,928,859, issued May 29, 1990, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,027,855, issued Jul. 2, 1991 disclose quick-disconnect couplings.